Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-12-06

The tobacco of which the cigarette Is
after many days to be made comes to us
almost exclusively from North Carolina
and Virginia. II is in itself a mild to-
bacco and 10 make il n milder yet only
the four or five lower leaves are chosen,
the strength Of the plant. like that OF
celery, for instance, deserving the lower
leaves and concentrating above. These
leaves come up from the south packed like
solid logs into immense hogsheads, but a.
soon as the hands into which they are
tied are untwisted, they are put into
steam bath and softened and cleaned.
The steam rlishes through them, big
brawny armed black men turn them and
toss them and then lay them in layers on
the floor As each tankful is laid down,
one of the men takes pail full OF rum,
glucose and some few other improving
liquids necessary to give the right flavor
iny, and with whsk broom sprinkles
them thoroughly.
From this improving treatment the
leaves 60 into the trough Of the cutting
machine. They 60 in loosely enough, but
when they are dragging by brass plate
chain through the smallest possible aper-
ture to meet the revolving knives the soft
leaves are pressed into block like wood.
Standing in front of the knives and
watching the mist, which is all that one
can see in their 200 revolutions in . min
ute. the ever changing surface OF this
shaven block of leaves is a thing OF mar
velous beauty. The four danged knives
cut off innumerable fine shavings in a
minute. and the result IL q surface that
looks alive The yellow stems and veins
| change their relative positions on the
| brown leaves with every cut, and the re-
suit is a winking. blinking mass that COM
| pletely fascinates the beholder. The
knives are stopped, and in the box below
| is the shredded tobacco, syactly AS we see
it in the finished cigaEste, damp, it is
| true. but that is necessary in the making,
and the over supply is kept covered by
wet blankets until carried to the makers.
Then comes the making. You go into
large, low, light room. down which go
long benches which are partitioned on in
three foot compartments. On each side,
each at a place Of her own, sit the girls
Before them are a stout bit Of paper
| fastened BY the back edge Of the table,
two pounds Of tobacco and some packs Of
rice paper. A marble slab is ut the right
hand and on it some Jumps Of wet starch
ard long pointed stick. With her left
hand the girl picks up paper, lays 1t on
| the roEer with the front edge slightly pro-
jecting. With her right hand she picks
up the tobacco, not too much, but Just
enough. and puts 1t on the rice paper,
| squeezing it little into shape as she does
| so. Then she takes up the two corners Of
both papers that are nearset her and lays
| them over towards the back. then brings
| them back, rolling up the tobacco with
her thumbs us she does so. Getting II
moderately firm. she changes to the tips
| Of her fingers and rolls 1t snugly, lifting 1t
! the while from the under paper. A
second and il lies along her left forefinger,
| rolled but with loose edge. The starch
stick glides along this, another twist and
| it is sealed and delivered, that is to say,
dropped into the box edge of the bench.
The process looks exceedingly simple,
/ but il often takes a week of patient teach
| ing and trial to learn the many motions
correctly, and even then it is astounding
to think how many motions II takes Il
make even thousand cigarettes in day
1.-The maker OF thousand perfect cigar
cites containing neither four ounces more
nor less than two pounds receives seven
ty-five cents for her work. Does IL seem
possible, then, that any one could make
3 900 of these in a day: Hardly, and We.
they do.
After leaving the hands of the makers
the cigarettes are passed over to the cut
| tiers, who sit between aisles and with bic
shears cut off the hanging shreds of to
bacco from the ends. These shreds art
constantly swept away by the little sweep
ers, whose duty 1t is TO keep the floor al
WAYS in perfect order. The finished CT
| carettes 90 next to the examiners, who
run through the boxes, and. with the eyes
of ferrets, pick out the badly made or I'M
perfect ones In some instances fifteen
| cents hundred is taken ont at the end OF
the week for cigarettes so badly made ..
to be necessarily split open and made
again.
The boxing and stamping and the pack
ing is work very easily imagined, the only
| particular interest being in the rapiditl
| and automatic precision with which II i
done. And, indeed, the whole fascina
ton of the trade lies in the lightning like
| nimbleness which is necessary TO bring
about u satisfactory result. The work !.
clean and is said TO be healthy, the girl.
themselves claiming that they have rarely
any trouble except with headache, which
is very possibly caused by the fumes o.
tobacco but very probably is nothing fol
which further reason is necessary thar
what lack OF exercise and such close ap
plication to work can give.
The rules of attending to the bushes al
hand vary considerably, according to thu
factory. In one leading factory absolute
silence is imposed upon the workers, re
Cartress Of the fact that if they waste
time it is their own loss, and the penal
ties imposed are exceedingly severe. II 4
seventy-five cent girl is caught whisper
ing or talking with another girl she is put
down to seventy or sixtyfive cents u thou
sand A second offense brings either {
further reduction or solemn warning
or both The third brings dismissal. 4
teacher or forewOman-''queens," As thu
girls call these lofty creatures-who un
bends sufficiently TO speak even TO AN owl
sister otherwise than with the voice o
authority is at once put down to making
cigarettes again.
Nor do the fines and authority end will
leaving the building TO go home. Th'
firm employs detective and any number
of stool pigeons to watch their EN-
ployes at night. A girl who is seen OF
Sixth avenue after or $50 at night i.
discharged the next day. The life Of al
honest girl, who is being shadOwed to ant
from her home, her house watched AMI
every pleasuring she attempts CAREFUL!
noted, can certainly not be overpleasant
especially as it seems to be a common be
lief among them that it depends entirel!
upon girls graciousness to her spy as Il
what is reported of her doings. This un
usual discipline is of recent origin.-Fan
| ME B. Merrill in New York World.
I'D ~ Q Motive Power.